I am tempted sometimes to wring my hands in despair at the sorry state of the Federal Government, at our $8+ trillion national debt, at our incredibly low popularity ratings around the world, even from our allies, at our lack of global competitiveness in some key industries, of our economic slowdown, and most of all, at the incredibly biased and inane media coverage of politics and elections.

See Washington Times article, same headline

Mitt Romney's polling numbers in New Hampshire (Zogby phone poll) now put him in a first place tie with John McCain. This is big news.

This morning Mitt Romney announced his 2008 presidential bid in Michigan. His theme is innovation and transformation. Here is the full text of Romney's speech from the NY Times.

I'm excited by Mitt's candidancy and want to publicly declare my support for him. My blog is not a political blog by any means, but it is a personal one, and occasionally I like to express my personal opinions on a variety of topics, not just entrepreneurship.

I like many other candidates as well. Who isn't fond of Rudy Giuliani for his amazing leadership in the wake of the 9/11 attack? My family will always be grateful to him for his strength and grace. He is a great leader. I'm also very fond of Mike Huckabee, former governor of Arkansas. I appreciate his social conservatism and his optimism for the future. I love his concept of horizontal and not vertical politics.

I'm trying to find a recent video clip from Fox News. I heard that Bill O'Reilly suggested on The Factor earlier this week that Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney is the only Republican presidential candidate for 2008 that can rally the conservative base. Has anyone seen that clip?

The New York Times reports that Senator Clinton's campaign has hired an experienced political blogger. The 2008 Presidential Election is going to heat up the blogosphere in the next two years. But I'm really afraid most of the candidates won't actually do it right. I'm afraid they'll try to use the web as a top-down communication tool, and not a giant listening device and organizing device that actually empowers citizens to be involved in government.

I recently found a great blog promoting Mitt Romney as a presidential candidate for 2008. Mitt and his team saved the Salt Lake City 2002 Olympics from financial disaster. As Governor of Massachusetts he has not only helped the state go from major deficits to a budget surplus, but he is vigiliant about helping the state stay out of the red. He vetoed $290 million in spending just this past week.

A new survey from the Pew Internet and American Life Project shows how important the internet is for political news, especially among broadband subscribers. The 2008 president election is going to be far more internet-based than 2004, for fund-raising as well as for organizing support and disseminating news.

Several web sites allow you to find all donors to federal election campaigns.

I just filled out a Zoomerang.com survey to tell the future governor of Utah what I think should be done to create a good business environment in the state of Utah. I'm glad politicians are using the internet to get feedback. I hope it becomes an essential part of governing.

I wish Utah didn't treat capital gains as normal income, for taxation purposes. Utah shouldn't make it tempting to move to Nevada before selling one's company.

But for the record, my major concern about Utah is not economic--it's education. According to the 2001 Manhattan Institute report, Utah is in 49th place -- trailing Hawaii only -- in education freedom. The report explains:

iCount is about to hit 4,300 registered users. Our soft launch has been more successful than we thought it would be. With our new visibility, we are now talking with several individuals and companies about how we can enhance the service and empower more Americans to be involved in the political process.